[FlJoePa]

I’ll just ask you this - and I respect your work as a rules official - would Sergio have allowed Tiger to take that drop had they been paired together?

[Baynative]

I doubt it. Certainly, there is the Tiger factor in effect that causes disagreements on decisions where he is involved that may not come up with other players. If Sergio and Tiger were involved and Sergio had played the shot, I doubt Tiger would have been as agreeable to the drop either.

On the call: you've probably seen it a few times yourself. When a shot is a long high hook rather than a dead pull the call over where it actually crossed the hazard line opens a lot of debate. The amateur tournaments I've worked usually only have a handful of officials on the whole course. The PGA Tour is well funded and I am a bit at odds that they don't have either qualified rules officials, apprentices or knowledgeable fore caddies and spotters in awkward places in a tournament of this caliber.

To your question of Tiger and Sergio. When I began learning the game and I had questions about rulings on my ball such as taking relief or determining playable situations, my mentor used to ask first, "What would you tell me if that was my ball?"